The Marvels of Rome

Written for the pilgrim and sightseer c.1143 by Benedict, a canon of St. Peter's, this is the best medieval guide to the city and an important source for the location of its medieval churches and ancient monuments. It narrates the early Christian legends that are connected with many of these sites; and documents the medieval sense of Rome's ancient grandeur. In the twelfth century the inhabited part of Rome, the abitato, as it was called, was a small city tucked into the bend of the Tiber River in the midst of the ruins of the great ancient city. The walls and gates of the ancient city were still in place, and between them and the abitato were fields where the animals grazed among the temples and baths. This edition contains the full text of the Marvels, a detailed Gazetteer identifying all the sites mentioned and providing full bibliographical and topographical references, a new introduction, 5 maps, bibliography, and index. 2nd ed., illustrated.

At about this time the Marvels of Rome appeared, written around 1143 by a canon of St. Peter's named Benedict. It was probably the most influential guide for the traveler and pilgrim to the sites of the city. Yet the churches of Rome and other contemporary sites serve characteristically as merely locators for the ancient monuments. The early Christian legends, which are related in the second part of the guide, often focus more on the nobility of the Roman citizens and their senators and consuls than on the religious fervor of the martyrs. The guide aims less to infuse the pilgrim with religious fervor, than to point out the temples and palaces and thus "to bring back to the human memory how great was their beauty in gold, silver, brass, ivory and precious stones." (from the Introduction)